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Insurers are paying a hefty toll for this season's brutal winter and are expected to cover tens of thousands more accidents this year, a media report said on Friday.

According to statistics by the Berlin-based German Insurance Association (GDV), there have been 55,000 more winter-related auto accidents between December and February than all of last winter, daily Süddeutsche Zeitung reported.

Most of the accidents have only involved minor damages, but the increase has still taxed accident and health insurers, the GDV told the paper. The organisation estimated that auto insurers will be strapped with an additional €230 million in costs, which will in turn force an increase in premiums for customers.

Meanwhile the ice and snow have also been expensive for occupational insurers. The VBG insurer for administrative occupations registered an increase of 15 percent more winter accidents in January than in the previous year. The number of reported accidents for pedestrians and bikers on their way to and from work rose 500 to reach 3,794.

“In February we expect yet another strong increase,” a VBG spokesperson said.